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Everybody Better Buy A Wii

Cuz Mario Kart Online is coming in the spring, And I want a rematch "Lipsmeyer", "Kurt", "Liz", "Matt", "Becky" etc....

Seriously - we can actually play against each other! I love the internet!

Another Map

This one of the intensity of the earthquake that hit around San Jose last night. We felt it pretty good up in SF... Enough that becky was in a door jam and I was sayin' "What's that?"

Just posting to get that foot off the top

So anyways, California is on fire:

Google Maps Link

busted

ok, so let's make sure my mom doesn't see this. it was my second attempt at outdoor climbing this past weekend and i just happened to do this to myself. i lost my balance on the rock, swung around 180, dropped down and rolled my ankle on the landing with a solid "pop". 30 seconds later - i've got cankles.

iced the bastard, elevated it and wore a bandage. hit the er last night and got a clean bill o' health. just hobbling around a bit. wanna get climbing again!

by-the-by, why don't hospitals let you keep your x-rays?

football

(i know this has nothing to do with Spain....i'm drafting those up now. i promise you will have something sooooooon. hang in there Rob!!!!)

My phone started buzzing. Ugh, do I answer or ignore it? Today was my day to sleep in.

Call from "Jen Brown" ... Weird, I haven't talked to her in ages. I answer. It is not Jen....it's Lara. GET UP, WE HAVE AN EXTRA TICKET TO THE USC GAME! I TOLD EVERYONE THAT YOU WOULD TAKE IT, SO GET UP. PARKING IS 40 DOLLARS. GAME STARTS IN 90 MINUTES. CALL ME BACK. Click.

damnit. I'm tired. I have at least three other football games to watch today. Never been to a USC game tho. I don't even like USC. My eye hurts. Free ticket. I have work to do. Their coach is pretty handsome. Who am I kidding, I love a challenge!

35 minutes later I'm on my way. Cash, check. Mini-Dew, check. Eggo waffle to go, check. 80 mph down the 10, no problem. Parking sucks, that's odd. $25 parking at the Shrine, deal.

This will be my first full-on USC Trojan experience, I am prepared for anything. As I walk from the parking garage, two snippy sorority girls skirt past me and promptly turn the WRONG way. Uh, i know i didn't pay 100K for my bachelor degree, but the Coliseum is THIS way ladies. Idiots. I follow the hoards of mustard and ketchup colored apparel through an unimpressive campus (we are just mere miles away from Compton after all).... standard tailgate canopies litter the walkways, along with carelessly discarded beer boxes and sorostitutes, I mean, undergrads. Boastful chatter and cell phone conversations filled the air, "where are you? Noooo, you were supposed to meet us HERE. Hurry up, we have coronas and dip! Gaaaaawd."

But I was most overwhelmed when I cut past an inquisitive scholar genuinely asking his friend, "what EXACTLY do you dip a french dip in?" Seriously? However, I couldn't ponder that one too long, as I became distracted by the "dance party tailgate" blaring JT and Beyonce a la 2006 across the quad (shouldn't they be blaring the fight song???? Represent. I miss the Auburn tailgates). Kickoff was in 20 minutes, I needed to hurry.....

Side note: a week ago I developed a random case of "Iritis" in my left eye. Painful and annoying as all hell, I've had to wear my stupid glasses and put drops in my eye hourly. One of these prescriptions dilates my eye, making it very sensitive to sunlight and slightly blurs vision (yes, i drove anyway). my point: this condition was very very annoying, especially when trying to maneuver through crowds in sunny SoCal.

So there I was, pinballing my way toward the stadium, bouncing from one overpaid USC alum to the next, when I hear a lot of metallic clanking. Are there metal grates somewhere? No. It turns out that as a form of good luck, the students KICK the campus flag poles as they pass by them. Is that really honoring our great state and nation? Recent USC lore reveals that once upon a time, as the marching band trotted thru campus toward the stadium, some band nerd ate it after tripping on the flagpole.....and the Trojans happened to win that game (shocker) ..... thereby birthing a new good luck tradition. Is that all you've got? I miss the south.

I arrive to the stadium at 90 minutes on the dot......okay maybe it was 94 minutes, or 96, but pretty damn close. I am proud of myself, and my awards are welcoming friends, jovial tailgate strangers and a stiff screwdriver in a solo cup. Today will be good. Then Jen smacked me in the face with a coffee thermos. WATCH THE EYE PEOPLE!

Shortly thereafter, I met Josh (or was it Joe?). A clever bachelor, Josh won us gals over with the following;

Hi, I'm Josh, I see that you're not wearing a wedding ring. Are you married?
No.
Great, neither am I. Do you have a boyfriend?
(Ah jeez) No.
Great, I don't have a boyfriend either. We should get together.
(I hate that I laughed at that. wonder how many times it actually worked)

What's that? I arrived just in time to pack up the tailgate? Perfect. **Chug drink**

The Coliseum is by no means an impressive stadium by today's standards, but the seats were good (did I mention, free?) And they sold kettlecorn (instant upgrade in my book)!

There was a game, a horse, a whole lotta trojan hats and feathers, plus they lit the old Olympic flame in the 4th quarter. USC ultimately won over Arizona, despite some waffling in the first half - throughout which the crowd managed to keep track of the plays in between frivolous personal conversations. And they have this crazy thing that they stand and jeer the opponent on every 3rd down. I felt like I was in church. Up down up down..... i did NOT plan on exercising today.

Our post game tailgate included one very drunk woman who heckled an actual USC player as he passed by us. Um, ma'am please don't do that. They won, didn't you see that they pulled through? Please stop telling him he played like shit, he's with his family, oh gawd, I'm just gonna hide in between the cars... (What is that nutbag doing?!? someone kill her!)

All in all, I'm glad I went, but can't avoid the fact that this supposed powerhouse game just wasn't anything close to an SEC game. The energy was completely different. (Read: almost completely absent for three quarters)

In an LA sort of way, it seemed like the team was an accessory. Like the fans didn't really care about the actual players, just if it would be a win or a loss. It very well could be blamed on my disconnect with the local teams, but I felt as though we were at a high school football game. My first OSU, OU, and Auburn games were undoubtedly awe-inspiring for me. Hell, even the JMU game was better than this. I have great memories from all my college game experiences, but I have to admit that my top memory from USC wasn't football at all, but rather, what i heard while passing by an elderly couple as we exited a quickly deserted campus.....

The ancient woman was waiting patiently in her wheel chair as her AARP companion chatted on the phone, "Oh THAT Pam, I didn't know who you were talking about, but you meant PAM ANDERSON. It all makes sense now."

What?!?!? Only in LA.

Reporting live from the sidelines,

Missy

tap tap tap...waiting...

ok.. I'm waiting for a story from beckys trip with Missy to Spain ya,

Also looking forward to Jer's trip up north....